NSA Contractor Arrested in Probe of Stolen ‘Source Code’: Report

An NSA contractor was arrested by the FBI and investigated for possibly stealing secrets, the New York Timesreported.

Much like Edward Snowden, this contractor was employed by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, though the nature of the information he took is quite different. It’s believed what he allegedly took from the NSA were hacking tools being built to access systems in countries hostile to the US.

According to the Times:

The contractor arrested in recent weeks is suspected of taking the highly classified “source code” developed by the agency to break into computer systems of adversaries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Two officials said that some of the information the contractor is suspected of taking was dated.

In a statement from the Department of Justice, the arrested suspect is stated as being 51-year-old Harold Thomas Martin III of Glen Burnie, Maryland. In that statement, the DoJ claims to have found “highly classified information” and US government property “with an aggregate value in excess of $1,000,” in Martin’s home. Charges have been filed by the DoJ for unauthorised removal and retention of classified materials, as well as theft of government property.